This invention relates to a partially segmented deformable mirror and, more particularly, to such a mirror with improved transducer attachments
Segmented deformable mirrors have been used for wave front corrections of a light beam such as a beam from a laser. By a segmented deformable mirror is meant a collection of mutually separated mirror pieces which are so arranged that their front reflective surfaces are substantially coplanar with respect to one another and of which the orientations of the front surfaces can be controllably varied. Since the individual mirror pieces are completely separated, however, it is difficult to control the gaps between mutually adjacent pairs of these mirror pieces and also to prevent adjacent edges from moving apart in the direction normal to the mirror surfaces. Moreover, a portion of the incident beam will fall upon such gaps and be lost by scattering, by diffraction or by absorption. In the first two cases, the intensity profile of the beam is degraded In the third case, the light absorbed in the gaps may damage the mirror if it is used with a high-power beam.